


Something in the Water

by Luxie



Series: The Iunctio-Stones [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: Also appearances by, Dubious Consent, M/M, Nagisa's sister, Sci-Fi, Unresolved Sexual Tension, and a lot of other tension to be honest, by my math the guys are about to hit 20 during this, experimental enhancement
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-17
Updated: 2015-03-22
Packaged: 2018-03-18 08:52:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3563606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luxie/pseuds/Luxie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I'll do it.” Sousuke says, looking the doctor straight in the eyes. “I just have to ask. What's the down side?”<br/>The doctor smiles again, wider and with a glint in his eyes. “The down side, Yamazaki-san, is that you get to be a Superhero.”</p><p>Sousuke recklessly makes a deal to join a special program in return for having his shoulder fixed.  Through the fog of pain the doctor asks him, "We need you to give us a name, the name of a person, male or female, who you trust explicitly. Someone who you can trust with your life. Can you give us a name like that?”<br/>“Rin.” Sousuke says with out even thinking. “Matsuoka Rin.”</p><p>But can he trust Rin with everything? And can their friendship survive a program that forces them into a codependent and sexual relationship, that neither of them ever really asked for?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sousuke

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, here goes folks.  
> This is hands down the most disturbing journey I have taken and for those of you who have read Mechanar Six, you can appreciate the full meaning of that.  
> 

Sousuke sits in the waiting room, stomach growling and fingers tapping nervously on the edge of the magazine he's not reading. When a doctor appears in the doorway he gets to his feet, drawing in a deep breath to steel himself, but the doctor simply raises his hand and gestures for Sousuke to sit back down. The doctor himself pulls up a chair and sits opposite of Sousuke in the empty waiting room.

“Hello Yamazaki-san.” He doesn't introduce himself and Sousuke is pretty sure he hasn't met this doctor before, but he assumes this man will be the one operating on his shoulder. “I've been looking through your medical history. We were quite fortunate that your shoulder broke down or we might never have found you.”

Sousuke frowns and tries to take in the odd words, but the doctor is already continuing.

“There is an abnormality in your blood, a rather rare subgene that we have traced back to your birth town. One might say there seems to be something in the water there.” The doctor tries a soft smile. “This abnormality makes you very special, Yamazaki-san.”

“I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at.” Sousuke manages, calming himself down the way his trainer taught him once. “Does this have anything to do with my surgery?”

The doctor smiles again and he looks kind and reassuring. “What if I said you didn't have to get that surgery? That the doctors at my facility can patch you up without having to put a knife to your skin?”

Sousuke skips past the _Who are you_? and the _What facility?_ straight to the “I'd say that sounds pretty expensive.”

“It wouldn't cost you any money.” The doctor assures. “On the contrary, you could consider yourself our employee.”

“So what you're saying is that I sign a contract that allows you to research my genes and in exchange you fix my shoulder?”

“That would be the gist of it, yes.”

Sousuke rotates his shoulder once, sending a sharp stab of pain through the entire area. If he goes through with this surgery he might be lucky to get his shoulder back at 90 percent, but that's best case scenario. There will be no more swimming, it's that simple. He'll never get to compete again, never get to race Rin again. Never get to feel whole. If this doctor can do what he claims -

“I'll do it.” Sousuke says, looking the doctor straight in the eyes. “I just have to ask. What's the down side?”

The doctor smiles again, wider and with a glint in his eyes. “The down side, Yamazaki-san, is that you have to be really brave.”

 

 

Sousuke slips in and out of consciousness, but the doctors keep talking to him, apparently completely indifferent to whether or not Sousuke can hear them. They guide him through every little step and there's pain, yes, but the doctor kept his word and no knives are used.

He's on his stomach and they prod along his spine, up and down in tireless repetition as if they're counting every little nob. After a while they seem to gravitate towards the space between his shoulder blades, fingers digging in between his vertebrae until he has to let out a grunt of discomfort.

“How does this feel?” A doctor asks at one point, her voice soft and motherly as if she's just putting bandage on a scrape on his knee. He barely manages to hum out a indecisive tone.

“I think this is the place.” She says, not to him, because her voice is drifting off, or maybe he is. Seconds, minutes, and then there's a blinding pain and he should be screaming, but he doesn't think he is.

He thinks he sees Rin, bangs in his eyes and the rest of his hair tied back into that ridiculous ponytail he has when he goes for a run. He's sweaty and panting and he laughs, white teeth showing and making Sousuke's heart race. That's when Rin steps closer and his smile softens. He doesn't speak, neither of them does. Instead he keeps moving closer and Sousuke allows it, allows Rin to delete every line they ever drew, smudged, retraced and then played jump-rope with.

Rin is in his face, his hands on his body, demanding and without hesitation and their mouths are clashing. Sousuke feels so hot, feels like a fever is burning through his body and he knows then, that Rin is a wildfire that's going to devourer him and he is just going to stand here and let it happen.

The next time Sousuke knows for a fact that he's awake is when a male nurse changes his IV. He's sweating and burning and everything aches. Except his shoulder. Small blessings.

The doctor returns and the nurse gives his report. It's loud enough that Sousuke can hear, but his fevered brain can't make sense of the words.

“...not my place, but he won't survive without an Echo for much longer.”

“Would he even be able to pick one?”

“I think so. At times he's – lucid.”

“Then let's give it a try.”

They both turn to him and the doctor seems pleased to find him awake. She smiles down at him, placing a cold hand on his burning skin.

“I'm glad to see you're awake, Sousuke.” She says with a smile. “I need to ask you a very important question.”

“Am I dying?” Sousuke croaks out even though his mouth feels parched. The doctor gives a soft laugh.

“No. You don't have to worry about that. To be honest, we have far too much interest in keeping you alive to let that happen, okay?”

Sousuke appreciates the honesty. No empty promises or false assurance. He's of value to them and they'll make sure he stays valuable. He can understand those concepts and he's fine with the reasoning behind it. At least it's genuine.

“What we need from you is a name. To keep you alive at this stage we need to bind you to what we call an “Echo”, a counterpart who will help you stabilize and who will mirror your emotions. That's very technical, but you understand the basic of it, right?”

Sousuke nods, even if he doesn't, not really.

“Good. We need you to give us a name, the name of a person, male or female, who you trust explicitly. Someone who you can trust with your life. Can you give us a name like that?”

“Rin.” Sousuke says with out even thinking. “Matsuoka Rin.”

The doctor smiles down at him and her fingers squeezes his wrist once. “That's good. Thank you.”

The nurse comes back over and sticks a needle into Sousuke's IV and within seconds the world goes dark.

 

 

They put him in a recovery room, but it looks more like the interrogation cells he's seen on tv. One wall has a long mirror that's probably a window from the outside and the rest of the walls are just plain white, ceiling and floor too. He almost loses track of which way is up and down. It helps to look at the door.

On the second day the fever breaks and he manages to sit up with the help of the nurse. He offers Sousuke water and an extra pillow for his back. Sousuke accepts the first and turns down the second. He can't lie on his back, not yet. When he reaches back and lets his fingers find the swollen flesh between his shoulder blades, he's disgusted to find a smooth nob, with the same temperature as his skin, sticking out of him. He's thinks it's metal, but the nurse tells him it's a stone, a special stone with a name Sousuke forgets as soon as he hears it.

“It's a conductor.” The nurse tells him, handing Sousuke a small bowl of the gel-like substance they've been feeding him. It's supposed to contain every nutrient he needs, but it feels like eating spoonfuls of thick gravy. “It'll help you channel your powers and connect you to your Echo.”

“My powers?”

“Yes. You have a yellow stone so that means you're a mindbender. You can force images into other people's head and have them do what you want. That's a very powerful gift.”

Sousuke almost laughs then, but he's already heard so many odd things since he came here that he's getting immune to the strangeness of it all.

“It's not working on you.”

The nurse laughs. “It's not working on anyone until you've properly bound yourself to your Echo.” He smiles and pushes the gravy closer. “But it if did work, what would you have me do?”

“Fetch me a cola.” Sousuke says and takes the gravy. It tastes bland and he hopes this isn't the only thing they'll feed him while he's here, however long that might be.

“I'm sorry. No caffeine of any sort until you're out of recovery. It will mess up our tests.”

Sousuke just huffs and rolls from his side to his stomach, facing away from the nurse. The nurse stays a while and does his precious tests and Sousuke is asleep by the time he leaves.

When Sousuke wakes it's dark in the room, but not chokingly dark. Despite the lack of windows he can still make out the room around him and it's completely empty. Then he realizes that the reason he woke up isn't because someone woke him, but because there's a pull somewhere in his chest, so strong that he thinks he might throw up. He scrambles into a sitting position, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. With a low groan he presses a hand to his chest to feel his racing heart, eyes fixed on the wall in front of him.

The floor is cold under his bare feet and he stumbles as he tries to take a step, his legs giving in under him. Instead he crawls to the wall, to where the insistent pull in his chest comes from and he presses against the cold white surface.

The ache lessen slightly and he lets out a sob he wasn't even aware that he had been holding back. He tries to think back, to remember if the doctors or nurses said anything about this, but he's coming up blank. He feels dizzy with longing and he presses closer to the wall, knees drawn up against his chest to combat the cold in the room.

“Rin?” He whispers, not even sure what makes him say the name.

 


	2. Rin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you may have noticed that I've made this into part of a series.  
> "What is all that about?" you might ask. (Go ahead and ask it.)  
> Well, I'm so pleased you asked. Unfortunately, the only thing I'm willing to say about it at this point, is that I'm going to be writing another story in this verse. A sort of parallel/continuation of Something in the Water.  
> \- Lulu

Rin wakes up from recovery kicking and screaming and they have to tie him down with the leather straps again. The back of his neck is burning and throbbing and his entire body is apparently on fucking fire, but no one seems to care. Once he's restrained they continue with their tests, refusing to answer his questions and in the end he's so dizzy and confused he forgets what he's asking them.

“Please.” He says at one point and with that one word he feels all of his strength leave him. “Just tell me where I am.” He catches the eyes of one of the doctors, a man in his mid forties. “Please, I'm just scared, okay. This is fucking terrifying.”

“I know.” The doctor says and his eyes soften. “I'm sorry. We didn't have time to prepare you properly.”

Rin swallows as the doctor comes over to stand by his side. He flashes a torch in Rin's eyes, one at a time, and looks at the monitors.

“You seem to be doing surprisingly well, so there's no reason to be scared, Matsuoka-san.”

“No reason? I don't know where I am, I don't know what's happening to me!”

“You're in a closed facility. You're here because we need you. What's happening to you is that we've inserted a stone into your spinal cord. That's the soreness you feel in your neck. I can see it's already turning yellow, as it's supposed to, which means your body is accepting both it and it's counterpart, which is very fortunate.” The doctor takes a few notes while he talks, but when he's done he looks Rin directly in the eyes again. “I realize this is frighting for you. I realize you feel violated and confused. But you need to understand that we were in a great hurry when we took you in. It was a matter of life and death and we didn't have time to inform you of the procedure beforehand.”

“How about you explain it to me now.” Rin growls, fighting against the restrains.

The doctor just looks at him, expression detached in a way that reminds him of Haru. “To be honest, Matsuoka-San, I'm not sure you are in a position to believe me, even if I tried.”

They sedate him after that and remove the leather straps. A nurse helps him onto his side and leaves him alone in the white room. After some time the lights turn off and he's left in darkness.

He lies in the silence for a long time and once in a while he has to reach back and touch the stone again, feeling the unfamiliar surface that soaks the fever from his skin. With his nails he tries to scrape around the edge of it, but his skin is too sore and he stops.

He wakes up with his entire body buzzing and his heart razing. His mouth is dry and his underwear wet. He realizes he must have come in his sleep, must have moaned himself hoarse and his face reddens with shame.

He tries to calm himself down, but it's like his body is determined to work against him. The more he tries to clear his head and calm down, the more aroused he gets and it's Sousuke he sees when he closes his eyes. Which makes no sense, because he loves Sousuke as a brother, but despite the rumours that circulated about them in their third year of High School, Rin isn't actually gay. But now he can't stop thinking about Sousuke.

It feels like the images are forced into his brain and he can't shut them off. Sousuke is against a wall and from the angle Rin realizes that he is on his knees looking up at Sousuke, that his hands are on Sousuke's hips and his mouth is around Sousuke's cock and Rin's entire body seizes up and he comes so hard that he actually roars.

He waits for someone to burst through the door, but he's left alone, thankfully. He manages to pull down his soiled underwear and dry himself off with them before he tosses them aside. There's a pull in his chest and it grows increasingly stronger until he slides out of the bed and staggers to the right side of the room, leaning against the wall. He slides down the cold surface just as his body starts buzzing again.

This time, when he comes, he keeps his eyes shut and presses closer to the wall. “Please stop.” He mutters, hand squeezing the base of his still-hard cock. “Stop.” He sobs out, but his body refuses to listen.

 

When he's finally allowed to see Sousuke Rin is torn between wrapping his arms around his friend's chest and wrapping his hands around his neck.

One of the doctors finally took the time to explain things to him, even if half of it made no sense and the other half was so improbable and unbelievable that Rin actually laughed. But when he sees Sousuke's dumb face he doesn't care if any of this makes sense, because Sousuke is pale and looks haunted and Rin understood enough to know that Sousuke had been dying. So even if he's more pissed with his friend than he ever recalls being before, hell even more pissed than he's ever been at Haru, he is still happy to see Sousuke walk up to him, wearing the same type of thin paper gown he himself is wearing.

“What the hell did you get yourself into this time?” He demands, letting Sousuke's punishment be the fact that Rin doesn't touch him at all, not even to support him when Sousuke sways slightly.

“My shoulder is fixed.” Sousuke says, attempting a small smile. He has his head bowed and he's looking at Rin through his eyelashes and even though Sousuke is taller than Rin is, it still feels as if his friend it looking up at him. It's what Sousuke does to make himself look smaller and vulnerable in front of Rin, but shit if he needs it, because he barely looks as if he's holding it together, looks as breakable as their damn paper gowns.

“You're an idiot.” Rin says and when the insult doesn't seem to hit home – and why should it, Sousuke has heard those words out of Rin's mouth so many times by now – he wraps a hand in the front of Sousuke's white gown and leans in closer. “You're a fucking idiot. Do you realize that?”

“I swear, I didn't know.” Sousuke says, swallowing. “I thought it was just me. I didn't know about the Echo.”

“You could have named any one.” Rin throws back, because this is his one chance to rage out and be a bitch and he knows it. Once this is settled, once they make up, there will be no more harsh words about this subject. “But you chose to fuck me over. I was on the fucking Olympic team, I was going to finally get to stand there and have a chance at my dream. How could you be so dumb? Idiot!”

“I didn't want anyone else.” Sousuke thunders back and it must take all his strength, because he sways slightly again and this time Rin does reach out to steady him. “I didn't understand what an Echo was, I didn't know what they'd do to you.” He pauses and his eyes run over Rin's face, desperate and pleading. “I didn't know what would happen when I said your name, but I didn't care, because what ever it was, I wanted it to be you.”

Rin is floored by the words, by the confession, and he has to take a step back. It probably looks like a rejection in Sousuke's eyes, because his face goes blank and his eyes hard and for some reason Sousuke's assumption that Rin would reject him pisses Rin off even more.

He's never asked Sousuke directly if he's gay. If he had been wrong it would be the rudest fucking thing in the world. Still, a part of him always suspected, or maybe even assumed. He just decided that Sousuke being gay had nothing to do with _their_ relationship. Sousuke knows Rin likes girls, even if they aren't exactly a priority in his life.

So maybe he never let Sousuke know that he suspected and was actually pretty chill about it, and maybe Sousuke thinks Rin is only putting the pieces together now, but Sousuke has to _know_ that even if Rin likes girls and not dick, he would never push Sousuke away, wouldn't even think about distancing himself or reject his friendship in any way.

He wants to ask Sousuke, _do you really think I'm that much of a douchbag, that I would do that to you_ , but it's already there in Sousuke's eyes that, no, he doesn't think that about Rin. But he fears it and he's so very scared right now.

The point of connection where his hand grabs Sousuke's shoulder – the bad shoulder that healed by a miracle – makes his palm tingle and his body relax. Sousuke seems to relax too, relax into the touch and Rin is glad he can at least give Sousuke this.

“You're gonna be buying me Pizza for the rest of my life.” He says, squeezing just a bit too hard. Sousuke seems pleased, though. Maybe because Rin just promised him eternal friendship.

 

 


	3. Sousuke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all have watched the OVA! It was so fluffy and just filled with flirting and dramatic deaths and sexual tension! And Sousuke being accepted by the Iwatobi gang.  
> Jeez, I'm going to be living off that episode for months to come. It filled my heart with gladness and took away all my sadness- wait...
> 
> Anyways. To the serious part.  
> YES this fic has an archive warning for Rape/noncon. I've also tagged it Dub-con. That's not a joke and it's not just to be safe either. The concept of this fic is not just to irk you, though, but I'm not going to comfort traumatized readers afterwards, either. So just know that it's a thing that's going to happen with in the frame of this story (actually this chapter) and pray that I handle the fall-out in a satisfying manner.  
> Okay, let's get this chapter out of the way, shall we.

The two of them are kept in a single isolated ward for a week before they'll be introduced to the rest of what the doctors call their “team”. A young asian woman explains the program to them both and Sousuke has to look over at Rin more than once to make sure he's still there, that he hasn't left the ward out of pure wrath.

“It all depends on your stone.” She says and pushes the tablet over the white surface of the table. A calm slide show explains the different colours of stones and their properties in writing and pictures and Sousuke recognizes his own yellow stone with the ability to control minds and force your will on your opponent.

All the stones have qualities specifically selected for combat. The red one for kinetic force, the orange one for invisibility. He quickly learns that the stones are all colourless when implanted and changes depending on your innate skill set. Sousuke guesses that it means he has an affinity for manipulation. He's not sure how he feels about that. He's always thought of himself as a pretty genuine guy. Maybe except for the months he were lying to Rin about his shoulder.

“Whether or not the Echo joins their Conduit in combat depends on the colour of the stone.” The woman says as the short video ends. “Some colours grant the Echo an extra, useful power, some just requires the two bonded to be within arms reach.”

“And Rin?” Sousuke asks.

“The yellow one is tricky.” She says, folding her hands in her lap. “You see Sousuke, the Conduits draw power from themselves every time they use their abilities. For you, every time you create an image, each time you lead an unwilling subject with your mind. The more you drain yourself the shorter your range of control becomes. That power has to be restored.” She says and there's a note of discomfort in her shoulders, in the way she doesn't quite meet his eyes. The pause is so long he starts to wonder if he's supposed to work the rest out himself.

“All Conduits recharge through intimacy and sexual gratification.” She finally says and there it is. The bomb dropped. Next to him he can feel Rin tense up. “For the yellow Echo that is really all they are meant for. A tether and a source of recuperation. Through sex.”

“But that's not going to happen, so...” Rin says and there is something dangerous in his voice that this woman apparently doesn't know him well enough to decipher, because she doesn't look even remotely scared. Frankly, Sousuke fears for her life.

“That isn't really up to you, Rin.” She says and maybe the reason why she isn't scared of Rin, is because she's part shark too, because her smile might still be polite, but her voice turns ice cold.

“I know you didn't ask for this,” She continues. “But you're here now. And you saw Sousuke just after you arrived. This isn't a joke, this isn't _participation at your leisure_. If you don't help Sousuke restore, he will fade and die.”

Sousuke ventures a glance over at Rin and immediately wishes he hadn't. He could have dealt with anger or spite, defiance or even Rin being repulsed by the thought of having to sleep with him.

Rin looking scared is the worst thing in Sousuke's world.

“You said he'd be fine as long as I stayed close.” Rin says, slightest tremble in his voice. “You said this stone in my _fucking_ neck would be enough to keep him alive!”

He understands why Rin is scared. Because Rin thought all he had to do was to stay close to Sousuke and now it turns out they'll actually have to be intimate.

“Excuse me.” Sousuke tries, desperate to find a solution that won't end with Rin hating his guts for the rest of their lives. “You said sexual gratification. Period. Can't I just, em, get myself off? I mean Rin could just be close and turn his back and he wouldn't really have to, eh- participate.”

“What goes on in your mind when you masturbate. Yamazaki-kun?” She asks and maybe the surname is an attempt at professional detachment, but they are still having a conversation about Sousuke's dirty thoughts.

“Ehm... About, _shit_ , I don't know.”

“People? Scenarios? Someone touching you and you think up this dirty scene where you can pretend anything you want?” Sousuke isn't sure how she can still smile politely and keep her voice even when saying stuff like that. “You see,” she continues. “You use your imagination when you get yourself off. But your ability to imagine and create mental pictures now comes with a price. To put it plainly, your imagination is what drains your powers.” She smiles. “How long do you think you will have to sit there, rubbing yourself, when you can't even conjure up a memory of the disappointing porn movie you watched in the fourth grade, with out weakening yourself to the point of collapsing?”

“Okay, okay.” He says, feeling his cheeks flush violently.

“Some of the other conduits might be able to do what you suggest, but not you. We don't sit around trying to find funny ways to torture you.” The woman says. “If there was an easy solution we would be doing that.”

She tells them that the tablet also contains a video about the facility and the concept behind it all, as well as a short video about how you stretch for anal sex and she leaves it playing as she excuses herself.

As soon as she's out the door they both get up and leave the tablet playing on the table, both refusing to touch it, even to turn it off. Rin starts pacing the room with his fingers dug into his long mane and Sousuke goes to his own bed to lie down and clear his head. Once in a while he hears the man in the video say stuff like, “Remember to relax” and “use plenty of lubrication.” and none of it is really things he doesn't already know, thank you.

 

 

He wakes up that night to Rin crawling into his bed, leg swinging over Sousuke's hips to straddle him. Rin is only in his briefs and for a second Sousuke is confused, because he was just dreaming about this. Well, not this _exactly_ and definitely not about Rin – he hasn't allowed himself to go there in years - but it was sexy and dirty and he knows he's painfully hard even before Rin moves his hips to grind against him.

“Rin?” He chokes out, but Rin just looks at him, innocently and reassuring and not at all like he's ashamed of being half naked on top of him. Then he leans down and pauses just an inch from Sousuke's face and there's a smile on his lips and playfulness in his eyes and Sousuke doesn't hesitate to lean up and kiss Rin.

When Rin kisses back Sousuke reaches up to cup Rin's jaw, pulling him down so he can deepen the kiss. Rin's hands are working on the buttons of Sousuke's pyjamas, the ones they have been allowed to wear instead of the embarrassing paper gowns, and he's moaning into Sousuke's mouth. Sousuke is too dizzy to realize that it all seems odd, too caught up to think about why Rin is doing any of this. All he knows is that he wants it and that Rin seems happy enough to rut against him for friction.

Rin's tongue is eager as it searches out his sensitive spots, his earlobes, his adam's apple, the dip above his collarbone. He seems to know all the right places, every small cluster of nerves that makes Sousuke squirm, and all the while he keeps grinding their hips together mercilessly.

Then Rin's mouth is gone and Sousuke opens his eyes. He watches as Rin lifts himself enough to pull Sousuke's pyjamas pants and briefs down to his knees and settles again on top of Rin's thighs, hand wrapping around Sousuke's achingly hard cock.

“Shit that feels good.” Sousuke says and part of him wants to close his eyes and focus on the feel of Rin's hand on him, but he just can't take his eyes off Rin.

Rin's hair is lose and his cheeks are flushed. His eyes are open, but glazed and when Sousuke looks down to watch Rin's hand twisting around his cock, the friction made sleek by Sousuke's own precome, he can't help but notice that Rin is hard too. His cock is pressing against the grey fabric of his briefs and there's a small, wet spot where the head rests.

 _Rin wants me. Rin is hard for me. Rin is on top of me jerking me off_ , and those thoughts sends him tumbling over the edge with Rin's hand wrapped tightly around his cock.

The moment Sousuke comes and his mind goes blank, Rin pulls off him and hammers his come filled hand into Sousuke's chest. He swears and slides off the bed and it takes Sousuke's dizzy brain a ridiculous amount of time to catch up to what is going on. Shit!

“I didn't mean to!” He blurts out, as if that's an excuse that has ever helped anyone. “I swear, Rin, I didn't know I was doing that. I wasn't- I've never done it before, I had no idea.”

“You've done it before!” Rin thunders. “You did it to me on the night I got here!”

“No, that wasn't-” Wasn't what? Wasn't him, wasn't the same? It could have been him, even if he and Rin were both only beginning to connect that night. It had felt very different, but that didn't mean it hadn't been him doing it.

And either way, it doesn't make any of this remotely okay.

“Look, I'm so sorry.” He says and there's a crack in his voice that even Rin can't miss. He has to know Sousuke is being sincere, has to know that it was a huge mistake. “I would never intentionally force you to do anything.”

Rin is still flushed, hair in a complete disarray and he looks somewhere between pissed and confused, but he looks up and meets Sousuke's eyes, holding the stare for a full four seconds, before he nods once.

“Go back to sleep.” Rin says in the end and goes back to his own bed, turning his back to Sousuke as he lies down. Sousuke spends the next hour staring at Rin's naked back. When Rin's muscles finally relax and he drifts off to sleep, Sousuke does the same.

 

 

Rin doesn't stay angry for long. Or maybe he does, but he's not the kind of guy who gives you the silent treatment or keep reminding Sousuke of his fuck-up. Sure, he's prone to pouting, but Sousuke thinks maybe right now, after what just happened, Rin needs a distraction more than anything. The problem is they don't really have one.

The tablet is lying on the floor, but it ran out of battery late last night. When the screen finally went dark they had used it for a impromptus game of air hockey.

What he really wants is to ask Rin about his swimming and Australia, but that could go either way and he's afraid it'll just remind Rin of the fact that Sousuke is the reason why Rin isn't there doing what he loves most in the world.

“Did you hear anything from Makoto and Haru?” He asks instead, hoping to ease his way to the swimming through the boy wonder and his boyfriend. Rin says they're not, but Sousuke is pretty sure they are, pretty sure they've been in love since they were toddlers. Maybe they just haven't figured it out yet.

Rin's eyes leave the origami swan he's folding and meet Sousuke's, blessedly anger-free.

“Haru's doing well.” Rin says. “His times are amazing. Even in Australia they are buzzing about him.” Rin laughs to himself. “You saw him when he was a kid and at Nationals. The way he seems to emit energy when he swims. To think he kept that from the world for all those years.”

“He didn't want to swim with out you.” Sousuke says. It's not something he knows for sure, but he's pretty sure it's at least partly true. And maybe he's also projecting his own feelings onto Haru. Maybe just a little. But who wouldn't want to swim next to Rin? Haru is energizing and breathtaking, but Rin is raw talent. Sousuke would give up almost anything to swim with Rin, hell, he almost did.

Which is the reason why they are even here.

“Well, he's gonna have to swim without me now.” Rin says, coming to the same conclusion as Sousuke, although he probably took a vastly different route. “Shit, I want to say I'm not mad at you, Sousuke, but I can't pretend I'm not. But mostly I'm just confused.”

“Confused about why I chose you?”

“Nah, I totally get that, I'm your best friend. Hell, I would probably have said your name too.” He pauses and Sousuke is pretty sure it's to give him enough time to let that information sink in. “But you sell yourself to these people you know nothing about, to do god knows what. And for what? A shoulder operation you were already having?”

“They did it better than 90 percent.” Sousuke argues and rotates his shoulder to prove it, but that's about all he's got, because Rin is right about every other point.

“But for what? What did they promise you that would make you throw away your dreams like this?”

“I didn't really have a dream.” Sousuke admits even if it hurts a bit to say it out loud, because dreams are something that Rin is very religious about. “Swimming was my dream. Swimming with you.” He looks over to catch Rin's eyes and he's not even surprised to find that they are slightly glistening.

“As for what they promised me?” Sousuke continues, giving Rin a tentative smile. “Is that I get to be a hero for once. Guess I'm not doing a very good job so far.”

 


	4. Rin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short chapter, so you get it even though you've already had one today.  
> Enjoy Rin being bitchy

Their team turns out to be compiled of none other than Kisumi, a blond girl with purple eyes that he later learns is actually one of Nagisa's sisters and a girl named Hanamura, who Rin vaguely recognizes as someone Gou maybe hang out with in high school. She Iwatobi-born at least, just like all the other Conduits. The respective Echos aren't anyone he knows, but they all look about as happy to be here as he feels.

“We're still one couple short.” Their trainer says as he hands out staves. Rin thought Sousuke and his Conduit pals were supposed to fight with their thoughts, so he's not really sure why they need any of this. “We are currently tracking down the Conduit, but it might be another few weeks before they are able to join us. Until then you get to train with me. Form two lines facing your partner.”

They line up next to Hana and her Echo, a broad shouldered guy their own age.

“We're going to start with the quarterstaff.” Their trainer says. “It's an ancient weapon used in most cultures and unless you are actually _trying,_ it is really difficult to hurt your sparing partner with these.”

“Then what's the point?” another of the Echoes asks, a pretty girl with black hair that is bonded with Nagisa's sister.

“Hopefully you will be able to provide me with an answer yourself by the end of this lesson, Hiroyuk-san.” He says and repositions her feet with the end of his own staff.

They start the lesson by hitting their sticks together to make a tune, each of them having to hit their mark precisely for the melody to work. After that the Conduits are blindfolded and the Echos have to lead them around a track with out bumping into anything, each of them holding on to one end of a staff.

Rin plays along. It's not the first time he's done things like this. They had similar exercises when he joined the Australian Swim Team.

The next exercise is different, though. The trainer shows them a series of moves, like dance steps, except it's a coordinated fight sequence. They are supposed to follow the series and take it slow, but it doesn't take long before he and Sousuke are fighting for real. There's no aggression behind it, just the good, old spirit of competition and a tad of childish rivalry.

It feels pretty good too, to be the quickest and the most agile of them. Even if Sousuke is still stronger, still packs a harder blow when his staff hits Rin's, it still feels like Rin is the one in control. Here and now, Sousuke can't force him to do anything.

Shit, he hadn't even realized how much that had bothered him.

“It's not about winning, Matsuoka-kun.” the trainer says, as Rin dodges one of Sousuke's attacks, just to get behind him and rest the end of his stick against Sousuke's neck. A killing blow, if it had been a real fight.

“Then why am I here?” Rin snaps back, making sure his teeth looks extra menacing. “I have this yellow stone in my neck, remember? That means I'm a fuel-station and nothing more.”

“Hiroyuk-san.”

“Yes, senpai?”

“Why is Matsuoka-kun here?”

“To get attuned to his Conduit.” She answers promptly and Rin wonders if he's the only one who's missed the point of the lesson.

“Quite right.” The trainer says. “And why is that important?”

“Because the Conduits must be able to trust their Echo with their lives, Senpai. Because if we refuse them, if we fight the bond, then we could hurt them or even kill them.”

She sounds like she's reading from a text book, but Rin knows she's not. He knows she was every bit as opposed to this whole exercise as he was in the beginning of the day, but somehow she learned something from this silly dance that he had completely missed.

“As Hiroyuk-san so rightfully answered, this is about getting _attuned_ , about being in sync with your partner. Which means none of you are leaving here until I see you complete this series.”

The training progresses pretty quietly after that. Rin and Sousuke finally manages to finish the series after another half hour and Rin feels an odd sense of accomplishment.

He also learns that maybe he doesn't have it so bad, because the broad shouldered Echo next to him, named Tabito, turns out to be Hana's older brother.

“That's gotta be horrifying.” Sousuke says as they let themselves into their ward. “Can you even imagine if it was Gou?”

Rin _had_ thought of that, even if he desperately tried not to. But the fact that Hana had been Gou's friend, that they are the same age and are very alike in many more ways, just makes it impossible to ignore the scenario.

“Are you trying to make it sound like I won the lottery, because I'm stuck with you and not my baby sister?” He says instead, but he makes sure there's a glint in his eyes when Sousuke turns and looks at him, flushed.

“I didn't mean-” Sousuke takes a deep breath when he understands the jab for what it was and returns Rin's smile.

Rin starts stripping off his sweaty t-shirt and track pants and makes a point of not hiding away while he does it. He's been swimming with Sousuke for years and they've been around each other half naked and fully naked and he's never felt like he had to hide away from Sousuke before. He's not going to start now, despite the fact that he can still recall the night they had sex in very vivid details.

It shouldn't make things awkward, Rin has already moved past it, but there's no denying that the balance between them has been tipped, when Sousuke can force his will on Rin that easily.

To his credit Sousuke does his best to pretend like things aren't weird. He keeps his eyes on Rin's face while Rin showers in the open shower stall in the corner of the ward.

They talk about the Christmas where Rin was sick and Gou pulled off his mask to plant a wet smooch on Rin's nose to “ _kiss it better_ ”. Rin laughs at the memory and pretends he thinks it was disgusting, while secretly thinking it was pretty cute and at the time had been exactly what he needed.

He's always had a pretty good relationship with his sister, even if it took a dent the first time he was in Australia. He made sure to make it up to her, with plane tickets to see his important races and by actually sitting her down one time and telling her that he appreciated everything she'd done for him with Haru and the rest. She'd cried then and he'd made an excuse to leave her room, but they had been closer than ever since then. Even with him 3000 miles away in Sydney.

That doesn't mean he wouldn't been in deep, dark water if it had been her and not Sousuke to name him as an Echo. Shit, he couldn't touch her in that way, he can't even imagine it with out getting slightly sick at the thought. But then again, he'd never thought he could have sex with Sousuke either, yet here he is. Forced to put out to keep his best friend alive.

“Hurry up, I want a shower too, you know.” Sousuke says. The staff has graciously provided them with a few magazines and a charger for the tablet, and Sousuke is flipping through the latter while he lounges on his bed in his briefs. The grey fabric is actually dark in patches from the sweat they build up during their training and Rin has to admit that it felt good getting a proper workout again, to get to sweat and get sore in his muscles.

He doesn't mean to notice, but his eyes accidentally ends up on Sousuke's crotch, really it's an accident, and he sees that Sousuke is at least half hard.

It's not that he's never looked before, even if it was just to make sure he was normal compared, but looking now, after everything that's happened makes him blush uncontrollably. Luckily, Sousuke is too consumed with the tablet to notice, so Rin ducks his head and turns his back.

“Did you use all the hot water?” Sousuke asks when Rin finally steps out and pulls his towel tight around his waist.

“I don't think this place has a limit on hot water.” Rin says as Sousuke strips off his briefs, revealing what Rin already knew. He almost manages to keep his mouth shut, but then in the end, he can't stop himself. “But maybe a cold shower would be good for you anyway. Maybe you should stop watching that video about the structural design of this place, it doesn't seem like you can quite handle it.”

Luckily Sousuke doesn't get pissed. Instead he smiles that shy but pleased smile of his, because there's no point in pretending he wasn't watching the other video and the fact that Rin is able to joke about it is enough to soften the tease of his words.

“It's not like I'm asking you to watch it.” Sousuke shoots back as he turns on the water. Rin doesn't have a reply for that.

 


	5. Sousuke

By the end of the week Sousuke has already woken up twice to Rin touching him in the middle of the night, but luckily he has it under control now and he manages to stop himself before he forces Rin to do anything too compromising.

It still makes the training awkward, though. There is a lot of pressing close and touching sensitive areas of each other's bodies, but at least Rin takes it pretty well, all things considered. Even on a day where they have to stand five feet apart and lean in to rest their heads against their partner's shoulder, faces turned down and tilted inwards so they are actually breathing in each other's air. Their arms are stretched out to each side and the trainer stops by to correct their hands slightly, the way their fingers interlace.

“If you are afraid to trust your partner, Yamazaki-kun, you will end up hurting your shoulders.” The trainer says as he presses down between Sousuke's shoulder blades. “That would be very unfortunate, now that you just got it fixed.”

Sousuke can't find anything to say in response, so he just grunts and tries to do what he's told.

“Has anyone else noticed that Rin has a really nice butt when he stands like that?” A girl whispers, and he thinks maybe it's Nagisa's sister, but he never gets the chance to turn his head and check because Rin, apparently, feels strongly enough about people staring at his ass that he manages to collapse their stance.

They both tumble to the floor, Sousuke on top of Rin, and their trainer ends up giving them ten minutes time-out before they get to continue with their scheduled exercises. A time-out, on paper, consists of both in a couple sitting opposite each other, legs crossed, sharing silence. For Sousuke and Rin it more often than not consists of napping.

“We need to find a way to not do the next exercise.” Rin whispers, eyes closed. “I'm not doing it.”

That hurts more than it should, because Sousuke knows why Rin hates that exercise and it's got nothing to do with Sousuke. Well, almost nothing.

“You don't have to do anything for the first half of it, and you can tune out for the second half.” He whispers back, even if he knows that doesn't solve the problem. It's not a trust exercise as much as another _attunement_ exercise. It basically consists of Sousuke feeling Rin up for about five minutes and then using his powers to make Rin do the same to him. It's basically as close to public sex as it gets.

“The others have to do stuff too.” He reminds Rin. The exercise is different for all four couples, depending on the colour of their stones, but the concept is the same. Be intimate, trust your partner, accept the fact that you'll inevitably be forced to have sex.

“That's not my point and you know it.” Rin growls and when Sousuke opens his eyes he's met by angry red ones. “We've been groping each other up all week and I'm getting pretty immune to it. I can't say I enjoy it, _sorry_ , but it doesn't really bother me.”

“It's the part about me controlling you.” Sousuke says and it's not a guess.

“It's not like I'm a puppet, you know. I can't just _tune out_ , like you said.” Rin explains. “It's more than just my body. You're inside my head, too. And you're making me – _want_ it.” He ends.

“What?”

“Oh come on, you've seen me. It's not just me doing those things. It's me _liking_ it. And it makes me feel like shit afterwards, because -” He stops and Sousuke waits in absolute silence, but Rin doesn't continue.

“Look, I didn't know.” Sousuke says, trying to catch Rin's eyes. “But I don't know how to do it differently.”

“Maybe if I throw up the trainer will excuse us.” Rin suggests.

“It's called Silent Contemplation for a reason Matsuoka-san.” Their trainer says loudly from across the room. “And it would take at least a fracture for you to get out of today's exercises.” He adds. “And I know you didn't fall that hard.”

Rin blushes and closes his eyes. Sousuke has his back turned to the trainer so he keeps his eyes open for a bit longer, looking at the way Rin's eyelashes lays thick against his cheeks.

 

 

Sousuke does his best not to like touching Rin _too much_ , but it's really hard to do what he has to do while staying mechanical and clinical about it.

Rin is on his back on a mat and Sousuke is kneeling next to his hips, Rin's arm resting on Sousuke's knee instead of the floor. It's a system they've worked out over time, that not only ensures that Sousuke doesn't place his knee on Rin's fingers, but also allows Rin to object silently if there's something he thinks is too intimate.

He's using it less and less now.

Rin's words about him being almost immune to Sousuke's touches is pretty in line with Sousuke's own observations. In the beginning Rin would squeeze Sousuke's knee every time he even got near Rin's lower stomach area or his face or his thighs. Basically anything that wasn't his chest.

Today Sousuke can sweep a finger over Rin's soft lips, thumb stroking down his jaw to his throat, hand resting there for just the shortest moment to test Rin's reaction. The flutter in Rin's fingers on his knee is minimal and eventually controlled, but Sousuke notes it for later.

Rin takes touching of his chest region pretty calmly. Sousuke thinks it has something to do with the fact that they both spend so much time undressed from the waist down, that Rin already considers his upper body public property. The first time he let a finger slide over Rin's nipple, however, he definitely got a bruise for his boldness.

Today Rin doesn't even react, so Sousuke circles an extra time around the hard nub and gets a suppressed smile for his effort.

“Don't be a dick.” Rin mutters, eyes still closed, but the smile doesn't go away.

Sousuke moves his efforts south, keeping the touch light and teasing. He knows he can get Rin hard like this, with just the touch of his fingers and the help of their connection. It's happened twice already in the week they've been doing this, but after their conversation earlier he's not as eager to try it.

Instead he keeps his fingers circling Rin's hipbones, staying on the outside of his thighs as he makes his way to Rin's knees. He keeps to the inside on his way up, though, but stops short of the bulge in Rin's sweat pants and shifts to the other leg.

For the first time Rin doesn't use his safety signal at all, but it might have something to do with the fact that Sousuke keeps his touches more chaste than he has the past two days. The assigned time is almost up when he feels the slight tightening of Rin's fingers around his knee and he looks to the side to find Rin staring at him.

He doesn't say anything, but there's a question in his eyes. Sousuke can't decipher it, though and wishes Rin were allowed to talk to him, talk him through this so Sousuke wouldn’t have to guess so damn much.

“Switch.” their trainer says and somewhere to their left Hana becomes visible again. First part of her exercise is to touch her brother while she's invisible, the second part is her brother having to touch her while she's invisible.

Sousuke swallows. At least he can _see_ Rin, knows when he's about to cross a line so he can brace himself for Rin's reaction. Hana's brother, Tabito, doesn't even have that. He's just groping his kid sister blindly, unable to see her face or reaction, unable to know if he's crossing a line.

The thing is, though, at some point the line has to be crossed. But listening to the rest of them, when they sit in a close group at dinner, no one is particularly looking forward to that time.

He switches position with Rin and places his hand on Rin's knee. It has no practical use there, but it still feels nice, the connection between them always a calming influence on them both.

Rin looks as nervous as ever and Sousuke hesitates so long that Rin eventually looks down at him, frowning. “You're not doing anything.” He says.

Sousuke can't stop the smirk. “I know. I'm just giving you a moment, you look like you needed it.”

“What I need is for this to be over, so I can get to the next exercise that involves me kicking your butt.” Rin snaps.

“You have problems being quiet today, Matsuoka-san” their trainer says, as he walks to the other end of the room, picking up discarded skipping robes as he goes. Rin waits a full ten seconds before he's talking again.

“Look about what I said before, about me feeling like shit.” Rin whispers and Sousuke looks over at their trainer, to make sure he's not listening in this time, but he's reading rapports, not too interested in watching a group of teens groping each other awkwardly.

“I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that.” Rin says and his expression is so soft that Sousuke has to check that he's not already controlling Rin, that he's not the one who's making Rin look at him with imploring eyes.

“It's okay.” Sousuke mutters, feeling a bit overwhelmed by how sincere Rin is being with him. “Just relax. I'll be careful this time.”

The change in Rin is instant. His body relaxes, shoulders dropping and there's a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Sousuke knows he's the one who put it there, that his own need to have Rin look at him like this, is the reason why he is. It took him a while to realize, mostly because he didn't want to face his own feelings, didn't want to admit that these were actually things he wanted from Rin. To have Rin touch him and look at him like he is now, hungry and completely determined.

He's pretty sure it's the stone, though.

Before any of this happened he _had_ thought of being with Rin, yes. He'd have to be blind, heartless and asexual to not have even considered it, but he'd also pushed the thoughts away as quickly as they surfaced.

He and Rin could touch, could sit close in silence, could help each other stretch for practice and give each other massages after particularly hard days, all this because Sousuke had never crossed a line in their friendship.

Maybe he had pushed it. Maybe he had let himself believe that Rin had pushed it a bit too, at times, but in the end they had remained completely platonic. Until the damn stone connected them and made them become each other's emotional tether.

Suddenly the calm, familiar surrounding of Samezuka Academy seems appealing and he moves them out of the facility and back to their dorm room. It's not something he does a lot, changing the scenery, but i's something he can do and right now he just needs the world to be simpler, to be him and Rin alone and untroubled.

“Lie still, I want to try something” Rin says as his fingers close around Sousuke's wrist, the one resting on Rin's knee. The gentle fingers continues up the sensitive inside of Sousuke's arm and makes a point out of teasing the crook of his elbow.

“Is this okay?” Rin asks and Sousuke nods even though he doesn't need to. “Good, cause I've thought about doing this for a while now.”

 _No, you haven't,_ Sousuke thinks, despite himself. He looks up to search for the lie in Rin's eyes, but there isn't one to find. Right in this moment, under Sousuke's control, Rin actually do want it. Even if it's only for a short span of time, he gets to have Rin like this.

Rin's caresses are mostly chaste. Sousuke slips up one time, letting Rin's wandering fingers slide just a bit too far under the waistband of his training pants. He doesn't think it's much of a problem though, not compared to the flush in Rin's cheeks, the way his breath falls short and heavy from his slightly parted lips. Because this is exactly what Rin didn't want. To be forced to enjoy it.

“I'm sorry,” He mutters and for a moment Rin's hand just rests against Sousuke's chest while Sousuke tries to calm himself.

“Okay, it's time for lunch.” Their trainer calls and Sousuke lets Rin go right away. The shift in Rin is as instant as it had been when Sousuke invaded his thoughts five minutes ago, but at least Sousuke is getting used to the hint of disdain and betrayal in Rin's eyes.

“We'll continue with the hand-to-hand combat sequence after, so don't stuff yourselves too much.” Their trainer says. “Today we're fighting naked! Just kidding, you should see your faces. But we will be trying out the four moves we trained yesterday. Also – _sit down Kisumi_ \- You'll be pleased to hear that the last Conduit has been picked up and is currently connecting to his Echo.” He adds. “They're adjusting pretty fast, so we can expect them to grace us with their presence within a day or two. Dismissed.”

They make their way to the common room where lunch is already waiting for them. Luckily, they had stopped feeding them gravy, just after he and Rin had connected properly and the toxins and additives of real food were no longer a threat to any tests.

Rin doesn't talk to him on the way there. The exercises are designed to force them closer and build trust and intimacy, but somehow it always feels like they are taking four steps back each time they leave the training room. For some reason Sousuke can never shake the feeling that Rin is still stubbornly fighting their connection.

In the end the silence treatment becomes too unbearable and Sousuke pulls Rin to the side, just as the others enter the common room. “Okay, I give up. How did I piss you off this time?”

“Did you ever think about doing things like that when we were in school?” Rin asks so fast that Sousuke _knows_ Rin had been waiting for him to start the argument. The question knocks him completely off kilter, though, and for a moment he just stares at Rin

“No.” he says then and it doesn't matter that it might be a lie, because any other reply would tilt their already fragile relationship. “Is that why you're angry?”

“No! Yes! Look, this, _us_ , this is how we are _now_. Us, doing this, being intimate, it's just the way things are going to be from now on. And I've been pretty good at accepting that, haven't I?”

“Yes.”

“So why did you bring us back there, of all places?”

“I just wanted us to be alone.” Sousuke hadn't even considered that going there and being alone in their room, just the two of them like they used to be, would somehow taint all the memories they had of Samezuka Akademy. Of their friendship.

Rin seems to consider Sousuke's words, but the frown doesn't leave his face.

 


	6. Rin

Rin has the next day to himself, since the Conduits have their first outing together.

He's pretty happy for the chance to be alone for once, something that he hasn't been able to be since he went to bed that night in Australia, but it doesn't take long before he gets restless.

He thinks about getting himself off, now that he finally have some time to himself. Because honestly it's beginning to take it's toll to be forcefully aroused to the point of almost coming and then being released to deal with the emotional fallout of it all.

He gives it a half-hearted try, but in the end the ward is just too quiet and also, he just can't shake the feeling that they've installed cameras somewhere hidden.

Suddenly Rin can't stand being in the closed confinements of his and Sousuke's ward. He slips out into the hallway in bare feet and nothing but his sweatpants, making his way towards the training room. Maybe there's no pool – he really has to talk to them about getting one – but he can still punch a sandbag and use a skipping rope, work his body until it's sore and clear his head.

Their wing of the facility is pretty quiet now that more than half of it's occupants are gone, but he can hear music from the girl's' room and on a whim he knocks a few times. Hiroyuk-san answers the door, looking flustered and for a second he really regrets coming here. Apparently it shows on his face, because Hiroyuk-san burst out laughing.

“I was boxing.” She says and opens the door wider, to reveal a kickboxing bag in the middle of the room. “I just felt restless.”

“How did you get that?”

“Hinata – _Hazuki-san_ – charmed a couple of guys from another team. Apparently their team share our training room, and they helped her get it here.”

“I didn't even know there were other teams here.” Rin says, feeling stupid that he though they'd be the only ones in such a huge facility. Obviously they must have tested this on other's before them.

Hiroyuk-san smiles at him and he can't help but notice how pretty she is, black hair tied back and cheeks flushed. She's taller than Hazuki-san, maybe a head taller, and there's something about her build that tells him she's an athlete, maybe even a swimmer.

“You're staring.” She says.

“Sorry.” Rin says. “I were just – trying to remember your name.”

“Aki.” She says and gives him a shy smile. “I guess you don't remember me.”

“Hu?”

“We went to school together. When we were kids.” Se says and leans her head against the door frame as she looks at him. “I got married since then, so my name is different. I used to be Yazaki Aki.”

Somewhere in his memory the image of a young girl who'd dropped her scarf in the river pops into his head. “You were in Makoto and Haru's class!”

“Ah, now you remember!”

“You almost got Haru killed!”

“Let's forget that part” She says and laughs a soft, genuine laugh and Rin likes the way his body responds.

“So, you got married?”

“Yes. Was married for a year. Dumb, young love, you know. Didn't know what I was getting myself into. Suddenly I'm expected to go at home and give up my swimming.”

“I know how you feel.” Rin says, the parallels to his own current situation taking the smile off his face.

“But then Hinata came into my life and swooped me off my feet.” She says and the softness is in her eyes as well as her smile. Rin feels a stab of disappointment. He's not sure what he had hoped. That maybe she and Hazuki-san had just been friends. That maybe he could find someone to do stupid things with.

Dumb, really, given their current enclosed situation. It's just that, for a moment, she had reminded Rin of a female version of Sousuke.

“I have to go.” He mutters and Aki's face turns sad. He doesn't want her to think he's leaving because of her last words, because he has something against her and Hazuki-san's relationship, but he doesn't want to stay and risk having to explain himself, either. He barely understands himself. “Gonna go see if there's something I can swipe from the Training room.”

He gives her a smile that ought to qualify as genuine and leaves her standing in the open door.

Maybe he should talk to someone. Actually, he should probably talk to Sousuke himself, but somehow that thought doesn't seem very appealing right now. He could talk to Kisumi, but he's out too, out training with the rest of the Conduits.

The only Echo who had to go with them is Kisumi's partner Kyo, who Rin still haven't managed to categorize as male or female, but who apparently has to stay within proximity of Kisumi to keep him from collapsing. Apparently tampering with the elements is very draining, which isn't that surprising, because it's, well, the frigging elements.

But maybe when they return, talking to Kisumi might be a good idea. He likes Kisumi. The guy is a very good listener and seems to genuinely care about people.

He and Sousuke actually spend last night talking to Kisumi about the old times. They talked about the camping trip they took right after they finished High School, the Samezuka gang and the guys from Iwatobi High. They had invited Kisumi, too, even if Haru had been a brat about it.

Rin still secretly suspect Haru to hold a grudge against Kisumi for befriending Makoto when they were at school together, but the fact is that it's just hard not to like Makoto. Even Sousuke warmed up to him pretty quickly, even being the first of them to offer Makoto the use of his given name.

Had it bothered Rin that Sousuke became friends with Makoto? No, but Haru is different. He and Makoto are different, their whole relationship one lifetime of being each other's everything, so it would make sense that Haru would be get jealous that someone like Kisumi would come along and smile at Makoto and sling his arm around Makoto's shoulder and be everything Haru couldn't be.

Sousuke thinks they're doing the dirty, but Rin isn't so sure. Haru doesn't seem to be in a state where he cares about getting physical and Makoto would never do anything to Haru that Haru didn't want.

Maybe Sousuke just sees gayness everywhere because he's gay himself. Or maybe Rin had been too straight to see that two of their closest friends were actually shacking all along?

“Oh, Matsuoka-san,” A voice says behind him, the asian woman who gave him and Sousuke an introduction to their new life. “Why don't you say hello to the newest additions to your team?” Rin tuns his head and he feels a gasp leave his mouth.

“Haru? Makoto?” The two stare back at him, wide-eyed and gaping and he's pretty sure he's mirroring their shock. Rin has a crazy though that he just conjured the two out of thin air and has to blink a few times to make sure they're real.

“Rin.” They both croak out, one sounding more shaken than the other. They both look pale and worn and he's reminded of Sousuke right after the two of them had been joined.

“Oh you know each other.” The woman says, looking pleased. “How about I just leave them in your hands, then? Show them around and get them up to speed. I'm sure there are many things they are curious about.”

Rin nods and she leaves them alone, the three of them just staring at each other in the hallway. Then Makoto moves and without a warning Rin is pulled into a tight embrace. “We though you were dead.”

“What?”

“You went missing.” Haru says, voice a lot steadier now that he's managed to get his emotions under control. “The Police thought maybe the stress made you panic and run away.”

“But we knew you'd never give up on your dream.” Makoto supplies. “So the only reason you'd go missing was that someone had killed you.”

“So what about my family?”

“You're mother's sure you're alive. She keeps saying you just need to clear your head and find your way home. And Gou, well she didn't want to believe it at first, but I think she got around to the _getting killed_ theory all on her own. She made a long list of your rivals and started working her way through them all. She can be very scary.”

“So where's Sousuke?” Haru asks.

“How did you know?” They both just look at him, Makoto slightly flushed, rubbing his neck and smiling, Haru with one of his many almost-blank expression, the one that Rin has learned to read as, _work it out yourself_.

“Well, I guess it was kind of obvious.” Rin agrees. “There's only four people in the world who could get me to stay here and you know it couldn't be Gou.”

There's a odd moment where the two of them look from Rin to each other and Rin is split between finding their confusion amusing and getting annoyed, because they can't really be that thick, can they?

“The other two are you guys.” Rin clarifies and the annoyance is completely quashed by the laughter that bubbles up in his chest when they both make huge eyes at him. “Don't be so surprised.”

“Well, I though Haru, but...” Makoto mutters, looking flushed and not meeting Rin's eyes. Oddly enough Haru has a small smile on his lips.

“Actually we knew, because Sousuke has gone missing, too.” Haru says.

“Not officially, though. “Makoto supplies. “We tried calling and e-mailing him, but he was supposed to be in recovery and then we got a hold of his doctor who said Sousuke were in physical therapy in a secluded facility. But we knew there was no way he'd stay away voluntarily with you missing.”

“You're quite the pair of detectives, aren't you?” Rin says with a smile, squeezing Haru's shoulder.

“Not really.” Haru says. “So, who else is on this _team_?” It's obvious from his tone that he thinks this whole thing is a pain in the ass and Rin can't blame him. In fact he knows exactly how Haru feels, because he was in his shoes, just two weeks ago.

“Kisumi.” He starts.

“Really?” Makoto's face lights up in an instant and Haru just scowls. Actually the exact reactions that could be expected.

“And I guess you remember Hanamura? Gou's friend from High School.”

“Hana-chan.” Makoto corrects and nods. “Of course. She used to come along to cheer for us at the tournaments.”

Of course they would have been friends with Hana. Maybe he should have been friends with her too, or at least known her better. Maybe if he hadn't been so busy with his own problems, even though _problems_ seems like a very strong word for his silly worries in High School, at least in comparison to his life right now.

“And one of Nagisa's older sisters, Hinata. Those are the Conduits. And then Aki is here too, Yazaki Aki from your school.” he adds, pretending hard that he didn't just find out her identity twenty minutes ago.

“So many from Iwatobi. Well, I guess all the Conduits are Iwatobi-born.” Makoto says. “How about you and Sousuke?”

“What about us?” Rin asks and it comes out way more defensive than he intended and Makoto visibly backs off.

“I just wondered,” Makoto says in a small voice. “who's the Conduit and who's the Echo?”

“Ah, “ Rin relaxes and reaches back to rub his own neck, embarrassed. “Sousuke is the Conduit. He's got a yellow stone like mine.” he says, turning his bare back to them so they can see the stone sticking out of his neck. “Means he can control people with his thoughts.”

“Scary.” Makoto says, actually looking much too worried. It's not like Sousuke would ever dream of using his powers against a teddy bear like Makoto.

“What about you two?”

The two of them hesitate for a few seconds, before Makoto answers with a flustered smile. “It turned out we were both able to be a Conduit. So our connection is a little different.”

“I'm sure that's an interesting story.” Rin says. “Come on, I'll show you the common room, it's almost time for lunch.

Rin leads the way with Haru and Makoto trailing behind him. Somehow their presence is exactly what he needs right now and he realizes that he must have been under more pressure than he initially thought. Having Haru and Makoto here reminds him of days spend in the sun and cherry blossoms. It takes him back to swim tournaments and fights about pointless stuff.

It makes his chest ache, but in the good way.

He talks about the training and the other Echos, about the things that are expected of them. At one point he looks back at them and notice that they both seem to be nervous and skittish. Maybe it's the subject, hell, Rin wouldn't blame them. It freaks him out too, and he's had two weeks to let it settle.

“You should touch each other more.” he suggests.

“Hu?”

“It calms you down. Because of the connection.” He explains. “Sousuke and I used it a lot the first couple of days, just because we were freaking out, you know. But touching really does help. Skin on skin is best.”

The way they look at him, the way they _don't_ look at each other, tells him all he needs to know about their relationship. _1-0 to me, Sousuke._

“Look, I know it's tough - and weird. It was weird for me and Sousuke too, at first. But you get over it. You have to get over it. Because it's someone's life on the line and it's your best friend.”

Makoto sighs and Haru looks, well, pained. Rin isn't sure what's going on with his friends, but he knows he's missing a bit of their story. As the three of them sit down in the common room, Rin takes a deep breath and looks from one to the other.

“So how about you tell me that story now?”

 

 

They spend the afternoon in the common room. Rin lies stretched out, occupying a full sofa on his own, while Makoto and Haru share one, both sitting upright and a good three feet apart. Rin can't help but remember how the two of them used to sit comfortably close together, share food and air and personal space like it was no big thing.

He remembers a winter where he had shot a snowball in the back of Haru's head and Makoto brushed the snow out of Haru's hair with a smile and too much gentleness.

He remembers them falling asleep at the bonfire last summer, heads lulling on each other's shoulder, until Makoto shifted and Haru ended curled up against Makoto's chest instead.

They both tell him their story, until it melts together in their closed ward, but at the end of it Rin still isn't sure what's broken between them.

“So when are the rest coming back?” Makoto asks when Rin's eyes drifts to the big clock on the wall for the fourteenth time. He hadn't even realized he had been doing it, but he knows it's pretty rude. It's not like he doesn't enjoy talking to these guys – god knows he's missed them – but somehow not having Sousuke around is beginning to make him feel restless. Actually, he had been restless all day, just like Aki had.

It must be the stone in his neck.

“I don't know,” He answers truthfully. “They were going to a forest nearby to train their freak-powers. Sorry, I guess you have them too.” He ends. Which reminds him that he hasn't even asked what their stones can do.

He never gets the chance, though, because a voice over the intercom suddenly calls out for him to go to his ward for an emergency. He doesn't hesitate, doesn't even look at Makoto and Haru, he just gets to his feet and runs. On the way there pictures flashes through his mind, Sousuke hurt, injured and bleeding in hundred different ways.

Thankfully the wing isn't that big and he bursts through the doors to their ward a few minutes later, panting. Sousuke is on his bed, completely still and every bit as pale as the day Rin first saw him in the hospital ward.

“Sousuke?” He whispers and then puts more force into the name. “Sousuke!”

On the bed Sousuke stirs, teal eyes opening to look up at Rin. He lifts his hand, slowly and seems to hesitate, fingers hovering less than an inch from Rin's skin.

“Sorry. “He wispers and his fingers closes the distance.

The next thing Rin feels is his heart speeding up and his stomach fluttering. It's not completely like when Sousuke is in his head, but it's similar. Maybe it's because Sousuke is out of juice and can't do his thing properly. Maybe this is what it feels like when their connection takes over.

Either way, Rin just closes his eyes and lets it happen.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh gosh. I've been debating with myself when the right time to tag these boys were. This isn't a MakoHaru story and I didn't want to lure people here on false pretence.  
> But here they are, on the Rift. 
> 
> I sure hope you all didn't tune out during the Rin and Aki scene. I have this horrible tendency to skip lightly over OC scenes when I read fanfiction, so I felt really bad about writing one. Even if Aki is in HighSpeed she really isn't much of a character, so I had to build her from very little material and she can in all rightfulness be called a OC here.
> 
> There's just one more chapter to go of this SouRin part... but didn't I promise you another part of this story? Hmm.
> 
> For good measures, here's a list of the team members:  
>  _Conduits_________________________Echos_  
>  Yamazaki Sousuke_______________Matsuoka Rin  
> Shigino Kisumi___________________Kyo  
> Hazuki Hinata____________________Hiroyuk Aki (Born Yazaki Aki)  
> Tachibana Makoto_______________Nanase Haruka(*although they are both technically both roles)


	7. Sousuke

At first all of Rin's touches are soft and uncertain. He runs one hand through Sousuke's sweaty hair, while his eyes roam Sousuke's face. With a small frown between his brows Rin bends down to kiss him, hovering for just a few more seconds before he brush their lips together. Rin's lips are dry and hesitant, but the point of connection is enough to send a thrill through Sousuke's whole body, courtesy of their connection, but also something else. This is Rin after all.

When Sousuke opens his mouth, Rin follows his cue and Sousuke takes it as a permission to take the lead. He cups the back of Rin's neck, pulling him in closer, and again he feels the palm of his hand tingle at the touch.

Rin must feel it too, because he breaks the kiss and for a moment their eyes interlock. Rin looks more spooked than anything else and for that short stretch of time Sousuke is sure Rin is going to pull away. He doesn't though. Instead he puts his palm down on Sousuke's chest and Sousuke realizes that Rin is feeling his heart beat.

“Is it helping?” Rin asks and Sousuke nods, because it really is. He's not sure if it's the touches or Rin's presence, but either way he already feels stronger.

“You still look like shit, though.” Rin says and Sousuke is about to object, but then Rin leans down to plant a string of kisses down Sousuke's throat, down to his collarbones, and Sousuke decides Rin can say what ever the hell he wants, as long as he makes up for it like this.

He does his best to keep his hands clenched in his sheets - even though every part of his body objects to not touching Rin - because he doesn't want to risk Rin getting freaked out by what they're actually doing. All caution goes out the window, however, when Rin mouths over a particular sensitive spot and Sousuke lets out a moan before he can stop himself. Rin pulls off, again, looking flushed.

“I can't” Rin mutters, eyes pained.

Closing his eyes, Sousuke nods.

“You'll have to go into my head.” Rin continues and Sousuke is sure he's heard wrong, because Rin would never-

Either way. “I can't do that.” Sousuke says. “I don't have the strength.”

“Then get the strength.” Rin says, “You can touch me, it's fine. I just can't.”

“Just let me touch your skin.” Sousuke says, as the idea hits him. “Take off your pants.”

Rin could have given him grief for that line in a hundred different ways, gone with _“You always wanted to get me undressed, hu Sousuke?”_ , but instead he just complies, stripping off his sweatpants and getting into the bed next to Sousuke.

Gathering all his strength Sousuke flips them around so he's partially on top of Rin.

Rin looks up at him from his new position and swallows. His eyes are wide and he looks more scared than anything, but Sousuke holds on to the the fact that he has Rin's permission. He has to trust that Rin can fend for himself, trust that, even if he doesn't actually _want_ Sousuke, he still wants to do this, still wants to give Sousuke his body and his attention.

Slowly Sousuke leans down to kiss Rin, hand running down Rin's side to rest on his hip bone and Rin's hips jump slightly, the hint of a buck, and Sousuke moves to rest his own groin against Rin's.

What ever strength he spend on turning their position around returns slowly, as he starts grinding against Rin, slowly and carefully. Rin makes a small sound and Sousuke pulls back to monitor Rin's reaction.

Rin's eyes are wide and slightly glossy, his mouth open, and Sousuke can't stop the small smile that tugs on his lips. He takes a moment to appreciate Rin like this, Rin looking vulnerable and blushing and actually being Rin, for a change. Not controlled and forced.

“Don't stop.” Rin says and Sousuke isn't sure if the affection he feels shows on his face, but God he hopes so, because Rin deserves to know what he's doing to Sousuke right now.

“Is this weird?” Sousuke ventures as his hand moves to rest on Rin's groin, the thin fabric of Rin's boxers being the only thing between Sousuke and Rin's half-hard cock.

“You have no idea.” Rin answers honestly. “But don't you dare stop. One way or another, you're getting me off this time, or I swear to god-”

Sousuke breaks him off with a kiss, deeper this time, and he allows himself to be hungry and demanding. He repositions them so he has room to rub Rin through his boxers and Rin responds by moaning into Sousuke's mouth.

Sousuke almost forgets himself, forgets why they're doing any of this, until Rin's hand makes it's way down Sousuke's broad back, sliding over skin and leaving a trace of electricity in it's path.

“This bond is pretty fucking practical.” Rin mumbles into Sousuke's mouth. His hand arrives at Sousuke's hard cock with just a second of hesitation and Sousuke bucks into Rin's hand.

The kiss turns into more of a touch of lips and sharing of breath, because none of them can focus on the logistic of it while getting each other off.

Rin comes first, by design, his mouth falling open and his whole body arcing as he spills hot into his boxers.

With Rin staring up at him Sousuke comes in his own underwear, Rin's hand around him and his body feeling overcharged with energy.

 

 

Rin doesn't allow much of an afterglow. He retreats from Sousuke's bed and steps into the open shower stall and Sousuke has to strain himself to be a fucking grown up and not stare at him while he washes himself.

When Rin comes out he walks naked, almost defiantly, to the other end of the room to get a fresh towel from their closet.

He debates whether he should say something, knows he probably should, but Rin beats him to it, completely messing up Sousuke's string of thoughts.

“People think we're dead.” Rin says, pulling on underwear. “I never even considered- I mean I know I disappeared, but...”

“Wait, how do you know that?” Sousuke says, because if some mouthy nurse has been trying to freak Rin out while Sousuke's been away-

“Makoto and Haru are here.” Rin says then, dropping another bomb. “They're the last couple.”

“That's- this is so fucked up.”

“I'm glad they're here.” Rin says, eyes meeting Sousuke's. “Not that you- I mean, you're my best friend, but they're... things are easier with them. Right now.”

Sousuke isn't sure what to say to that, if he's supposed to say anything.

“When you left this morning you were already looking tired. You've used a lot of your powers in the past week, with the exercises.” There is no accusation in Rin's voice, not even a trace of anger in the way he stands there, in the middle of the floor, in his pyjamas pants and tank top. He just looks broken.

“Look, I'm sorry, okay?” Sousuke blurts out, because he is, god knows he is. “I'm sorry. I should have probably, I don't know, _tanked up_ or something. I just couldn’t bring myself to ask you!”

The words doesn't sit well with Rin, apparently, because his shoulders tense up and his hands clench into fists at his sides.

“I know how _sorry_ you are. That's the problem!” Rin shouts and there's something wild in his eyes. “I'm actually trying here, you know, _for you_! You think I'd do this for anyone else?”

 _Probably for them_., Sousuke thinks, but he's smart enough to keep that to himself. Because Makoto and Haru are not the reason why they're here.

Sousuke is.

“I thought the worst part of this would be when you controlled me,” Rin continues, slightly more contained.. “to be sent into these short moments where I actually _want_ you, the way you touch me, feeling my body respond to you.”

 _I know how much this must suck for you, Rin_. Sousuke thinks acidly. _How horrible it must be to have to be with me._

“And then suddenly it's over,” Rin continues, stepping closer. “and I'm left feeling like shit, like _used_ shit. But then it turns out that worst part is finding out that all of that, is what you actually want. You just never bothered asking for it.”

Sousuke feels like the argument has just been turned on it's head and it takes him a few seconds to figure out if Rin actually just said what Sousuke thinks he heard. “I- I didn't think you even consider, you know, doing it willingly.” he mutters, taking two small steps towards Rin that leaves them just an arms length apart.

“Because you don't trust me!” Rin growls. “You can't even relax into a damn trust exercise, you can't touch me without feeling guilty about it. I'm trying my best to assure you that I don't have a problem with this. I've been worried sick that your damn guilt is going to cause damage to our connection and get you killed. It's been two weeks and you're still fighting the bond!”

“ _I am_?” Sousuke asks.

“Yes, _you_! You thought _I_ was the one fighting it? You think I'm that stupid? Don't you know you'd die if I fought it? Haven't you been paying any attention?”

“I just,” Sousuke says, trying to work through what Rin is telling him. “I thought you'd be pissed at me if you knew how much I wanted you.”

“I am!” Rin's teeth flashes as he snaps at Sousuke, but his eyes are wet and full of pain. “And I'm pissed about not being able to want you back, because maybe if I could, you would stop trying to break this stupid connection!”

Sousuke feels his stomach twist and his chest constrict until he can hardly breathe. Rin has been telling him this the whole time, Sousuke just hadn't been listening.

“But you see this is the problem.” Sousuke says softly, taking the final step that means Rin has to tilt his head up to keep eye contact, and he does, stubborn as he is. “Right now I want to kiss you, but you'd probably punch me in the face if I tried.”

“Of course I would.” Rin says. “You idiot.” And Rin wonders why Sousuke doesn't take that word, coming from Rin, seriously any more?

The thing is that Sousuke is more than willing to test Rin's resolve right now and gently he cups Rin's face before he presses his lips to Rin's. There's not much of a response, but Rin doesn't push him away either and that's got to be some kind of victory, right?

Apparently Sousuke is smiling when he pulls away, because Rin frown deepens, eyes narrowing.

“What?” Rin demands. “I didn't say _when_ I'd punch you. You've better sleep with one eye open!”

 

 

The next day they all gather in the training room to welcome Makoto and Haru.

Sousuke notice the way Haru smiles when he talks to people now, even if it's just a small quirk of his lips. Oddly enough, he doesn't feel jealous when that smile is directed at Rin. Not the slightest, actually.

Makoto is chatty as ever, easy and inviting, and Sousuke finds himself smiling too - even laughing with Haru when Rin kicks Makoto's shin for making a joke that's uncharacteristically lewd for someone as sweet as Makoto.

Their trainer sends them to their mats to stretch and Sousuke settles opposite Rin, pressing their feet together and taking his hands to stretch their backs.

“Maybe we can finally get our trust exercisers to work now.” Rin says with a cocky smile. “If you'll stop fighting them.”

“To be honest." Sousuke says, feeling a smile find it's way to his own face. “I thought, with the color of my stone an' all, that you'd never trust me again. Not really.”

“What are you talking about?”

“'Cause - They said the trait had something to do with who you were as a person. And apparently I manipulate.”

“No, you lead people, Sousuke.” Rin says frowning. “You can make them see things that are beautiful and horrible and you make them listen to you and you lead them. That's your gift.”

“You think that about me?” Sousuke says, surprised, “That I'm a good leader?”

“You're predictable as hell,” Rin says, flashing a rude smile as he pulls on Sousuke's hands, making the stretch of muscles in Sousuke's back ache.. “But just because you're never wrong. It's easy to guess what you'll do, because it's always the right choice.”

“I haven't been making a lot of right choices lately.” Sousuke says, probably sounding more gloomy than stern.

“Nah, you were working off some outdated information.” Rin says and they release each other's hands. “You'll do better now.”

“I'm not doing it” Haru says quietly to Sousuke's right. He's staring down their trainer while Makoto looks on from the mat.

“There's no point in pushing him.” Makoto says anxiously, looking up at the confrontation. In the end their trainer seems to get to the same conclusion and Sousuke is reminded just how annoyingly good Haru is at throwing people off kilter with that cold stare of his.

“You know, eventually you'll have to touch me again, Haru-chan.” Makoto says, looking up at Haru. There's something in his voice that Sousuke hasn't heard before, something scared and imploring. Rin and Haru has probably heard it plenty of times, though, temperaments like theirs.

“As if you want me to.” Haru says calmly, only a touch of ice in his voice.

“But we'll have to, Haru! I'd rather not die.”

“They won't let us die. They said that themselves.”

“Then maybe they'll tie us together and then we won't even have a choice any more.” Makoto suggests and Sousuke still can't really figure out what's going on, why Makoto and Haru of all people won't touch each other. Even if they hadn't been a couple before this, Sousuke doesn't know two straight guys as comfortable around each other as Makoto and Haru.

“What are you two on about?” Rin demands, apparently finding the conversation as confusing as Sousuke does.

Makoto blushes even heavier and rubs the back of his neck. “Well, there was one thing we didn't really tell you. About mine and Haru's connection.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well, do you remember how you said Haru and I should touch more, because it's supposed to calm you and feel good, like it does with you and Sousuke?” Makoto rants. “Well, since Haru and I are both Conduits _and_ Echos it has a - eh, more powerful effect on us.”

Sousuke looks over at Haru who's apparently determined to stare a hole in the wall, face blank but cheeks flushed.

“You can tell them later.” Haru says then and his voice isn't cold or angry. He just sounds tired. “If you're going to tell them they should hear it from the start.”

Makoto looks slightly surprised, but then he smiles. “Okay, Haru-chan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was the last part of it. Hope you like the full story.
> 
> As I've mentioned there is going to be a second part. It will be Haru/Mako-centric, but will definitely feature both Rin and Sousuke as well as the rest of the team. I hope some of you will follow me there.  
> It might take a while before you'll see it, because I'd rather have it close to complete before I start posting. 
> 
> Thanks to all of those who read this crazy mess and commented <3

**Author's Note:**

> Remember to let me know your thoughts on the story as it progresses. I can't change anything at this point, but I'll appreciate any feedback you can give.  
> Even if it's just exclamation marks.


End file.
